RealClearInvestigations (RCI) has announced a new grant program for investigative reporters. At a time when journalistic resources are contracting across the country, RealClear is encouraging reporters to apply for grants of $20,000 to fund deep-dive reporting projects. Grantees’ work will be published on RealClearInvestigations.com, the go-to hub for in-depth, longform reporting from across the web.
RCI’s editor, J. Peder Zane, said the challenges journalism is facing now provide a great opportunity for news outlets that remain committed to fair, accurate, and consequential investigative reporting.
“There is so much talent out there looking for a place to work, so many significant stories that need to be told,” Zane said. “Our hope is that this grant program will allow us to tap these opportunities to further advance our mission.”
The recent mass layoffs at the Washington Post, in which the newspaper cut 30 percent of its entire workforce, are just the body blow to journalism. The number of newspapers published in the U.S. has fallen more than 60 percent since 2005, while daily newspaper circulation has fallen almost 75 percent since the turn of the century, according to a Medill State of Local News report. Meanwhile, Gallup reports that trust in journalism is at a record low.
“Hit ‘Em Where They Ain’t”
RealClear’s new grant program seeks to advance the “hit ‘em where they ain’t” approach advanced by RCI’s founding editor, Tom Kuntz, which focuses on stories ignored or misreported by the legacy media. RCI’s against-the-grain reporting has brought many stories to light, including, for example, school policy failures that contributed to the Parkland school massacre in Florida, the symbiotic relationship between shoplifters and drug cartels in San Francisco, Medicaid fraud in Oregon, the rise of woke culture in professions from medicine to real estate brokers, and the shaky foundations of the Trump/Russia conspiracy theory. Internationally, RCI published one of the first major accounts of China's enslavement of Uighur Muslims, in addition to pieces on topics such as rising vandalism against churches in France, conflicts between farmers and environmentalists in the Netherlands, and the debate over hate crime legislation in Ireland.
“Even as America has been convulsed by moral panics and the normalization of once radical ideas, much of the media has largely abandoned its duty to report on these changes so that readers can understand the forces shaping their lives,” Zane said. “Ironically, that failure has left the field wide open for RCI and other outlets committed to the traditional values of journalism. The new grant program will allow us to expand that effort.”
Seeking 'Independent-Minded' Reporters
David DesRosiers, president of the RealClearFoundation, a 501c3 public charity that works with RealClear Media Group, said the grants have been designed to provide “independent-minded” reporters with the resources they need to “go into the field – that’s why the grants include a $2,000 travel budget – to observe closely, report deeply, and deliver a well-crafted story or series.”
DesRosiers said the Foundation is looking for “ambitious, big-idea, granularly-detailed pieces of investigative reporting” that can fall under a wide-range of topics including politics, culture, religion, science, technology, education, business and the economy. “What we want are stories that surprise and informs readers about unknown pivotal developments, hidden corruption and wrongdoing and uncovered influential trends.”
The number of grants will depend on the quality of the pitches received by the May 15 deadline. Interested applicants can see the guidelines here.
Like all of RCI’s original reporting and other work published by the RealClear family of news sites, grant supported articles will be available for republication to other news outlets and Substacks free of charge through the RealClearWire syndication service.
DesRosiers hopes the RealClearFoundation’s grant program signals that the death of journalism has been greatly exaggerated. “The public needs and wants quality journalism – and we are eager to support more reporters dedicated to that important work. And then some.”
